The State of my State

So this is my 2007 wrap-up and 2008 goals post all in one – and a few days later then the rest of the blogosphere.  Cause really – ya’ll got your fill of reading the resolutions and goal posts last week, so I figured I’d give ya a little breathing room before I doused ya with a few more bulleted lines.

Oh…I don’t really do resolutions.  Specific goals to me are more trackable and attainable.

2007 Summary:

Here’s 2007 in under a dozen bullets.  Not bad for someone who usually has long rambling posts, ehh?  I can write bulleted lists like no other.

[Winter]

  • I ran a lot last winter…rain or snow.  And it helped a lot.

[Spring]

  • I ran a 1:17 10-miler race in April, and then dropped it down to 1:06 in October.
  • I figured out how to swim across a pool (seriously) back in April
  • And then I figured out how to pedal a road bike (more serious)

[Summer]

  • Following which I did my first triathlon in the Seafair Tri, and then three more
  • During my first 70.3 two months later, I slid in with a 5:21 time
  • I started blogging

[Fall]

  • In the Nation’s Tri (an Oly), I almost hit the elusive 40 minute 10K mark, just shy by 12 seconds…if only I had known.
  • I dropped my marathon time down to 3:21 – from 4:20 – far exceeding my expectations
  • I then dropped my half-marathon time from a 1:49 to a 1:37 and then down again to a 1:26 – still short of my goal 1:23 time though.  But enough to take Top 10 in my AG out of 400.  Ending the year on a positive note.  Woot!

2008 Goals:

So I have a few (ok, perhaps a lot) of 2008 goals.  Many of them are somewhat self-fulfilling though.  Meaning, if I run a 36-minute 10K, doing a 60 minute ten miler really isn’t that much harder.

Yes, I’m a type-A personality – and yes it’s a long list of goals.  But I’m a goal oriented person.  I check off the goal and move onto the next, enjoying the ride along the way.  Simple as that.

  • Run a 36 minute 10K
    • This might be the hardest goal overall, but then again…maybe not.  Yes I have a plan…no I don’t know if it will work.
  • Break under the 59:59 for a 10-miler
    • It’s a numbers thing really…no particular purpose.
  • Run a sub-1:23 half-marathon
    • This will qualify me for the New York Marathon the hard way
  • Run a sub-3:10 marathon
    • You know it – Boston Qualifying (BQ) time.  I think out of all my goals, this is probably going to be the easiest – I finished this years MCM at 3:21 feeling pretty strong and I definitely could have gone faster.
  • Finish a half-Ironman in under 4:50
    • Shaving off 30 minutes from last year isn’t going to be as hard as it might appear.  I’ve got 10 minutes that I spent tossing cookies last time, and 10-15 more minutes I spent with two flat tires.  That really leaves me with speeding up my half-marathon splits (was 7:45) – which I’ve already taken care of (now closer to 6:30’s).
  • Finish the bike portion of my Ironman in under 5.3 hours
    • I’m not going to say what my full Ironman goal time is – just one segment of it.  Something’s gotta be kept a secret around here.
  • Run a total of at least 1,500 miles
    • I ended up a few miles shy of 1,300 this year, but I didn’t really run at all during December due to some knee problemo’s.
  • Bike a total of at least 4,200 miles
    • 80 miles a week, well within the training plan.
  • Bring my half-Ironman swim time to under 29 minutes
    • This was 34 minutes  this past year, 29 minutes seems quite reasonable.
  • Win some race…any race really – I’ll take another 15 person race.
  • Not get hurt
  • ******* *o* **** (I’m not revealing what this goal is, just leaving it here for future reference, the asterisks have corresponding letters)
  • Meet up with a few more bloggers!
  • Have fun the whole way!

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12 Comments

  1. You took an hour off your marathon PR? That’s a whole year’s work right there.

    Sounds like you had a good year. Best wishes for ’08.

  2. I like your piecemeal strategy, I think it’s effecive to go at things from mulitple directions. And I also think that if you hit those goals, you’ll be well on your way to ****.

  3. Nat

    Great goals. I read somewhere that if you write them down and tell someone about them, you’re more likely to succeed. Good luck!

  4. Dang, that’s a good year!

    I like the last, it adds some perspective to it all!

  5. 1 hour off your marathon PR… wow! Good luck in all your goals for 2008! Keep on rockin’!

  6. well i’m glad you’re keeping things reasonable!

    holy cow, i had no idea how far you’ve come in so short a time! i’d better start paying more attention to you!

    GREAT 2007! here’s to 2008!
    🙂

  7. Nevermind the goals. I’m definitely in awe of what you’ve accomplished and, well, your sheer speed! Makes me think that even I could improve :-).

  8. Okay Rainmaker… I’ve been reading your blog here for awhile, but as I read your re-cap and goals just now I got a bit freaked. You and I have the EXACT same history this year and we ran and swam the EXACT same times this year in a bunch of distances. bizarre, bizarre, bizarre.
    –just a few examples:
    I did my first tri this summer and then 2 months later did my first i/2 Iron, at which I swam 34 min. for the swim and did a 5:25 total. Last winter I ran a 1:07 for a 10 miler, and last winter I ran just under 1:37 for the half. (you’re faster than me now, though with that 1:26. Awesome!) etc. etc. same marathon time, too.
    Neat! Let me guess. Is your goal for the 1/2 to go under 5? I’ll be lurking…Good luck with those goals!
    mary

  9. oops! Just re-read and saw the 1/2 iron goal is 4:50. Yep. I want to go under 5 too. Taking off a 1/2 hour is definitely possible!

  10. Wow – great job on your 2007 season! You’ve come a long way in a short time. Good luck for your 2008 season.

  11. Well clearly you’ve already reached your last goal (have fun). I’m glad I caught you when you were just starting out in this thing and was competitive with you in at least one common race (2007 GW Parkway 10M). 🙂 Your ascent has been phenomenal and fun to read along with. Plus you do interesting things, so proud to know ya.

  12. new to your blog. damn dude, YOU’RE FAST and only getting faster it looks like.

    hopefully see you at the NYC marathon, my favorite race EVAH (except i haven’t done my ironman yet). i, of course, get in the easy way, but i’m 3 for 5 since 2003!!!